To say Sara Hise is gifted is an understatement. Hise will receive two Associate of Arts degrees from Cerro Coso Community College on Friday. At 14, she’s the youngest person to ever receive a degree from the local institution.

She just finished her finals on Friday, and said, “Its a good feeling.”

College fits Hise well, she said: “Its a lot more fun than middle school; that’s what I’m comparing it to.” Hise explained she is being challenged at a faster pace.

She said college students are worried about clothes and what’s on TV, too, but they’re also willing to talk about their work and school.

“I’m tall and no one can tell how old I am until a couple weeks into the class and they find out I’m 14,” Hise said. She said she’s accepted socially at the college level far beyond the ridicule and “target on my back” of elementary and middle school.

“In middle school they are much more fixated on the social hierarchy and who’s the queen bee than academics,” she explained.

Hise has had several roadblocks. Sara’s proud mother, Tammy Hise, said there are not many gifted children like Sara, and there needs to be more opportunities for them.

“We need to provide them the appropriate access,” she said.

Her liberal arts degree has an emphasis on languages, two courses in Latin, two in Russian and many extra languages. She mastered the Russian alphabet based on Cyrillic script at a young age.

Her other AA degree will be about social and behavioral sciences.

“I like looking at why people do things. In sociology class, you analyze why people do things, motives and all that,” Hise said.

And she applies those theories to her fiction short stories and motives for her characters, as she “may or may not be an author someday.”

She has a wide variety of interests from animals and literature to animation and art.

Everyone from President Barack Obama to Sen. Jean Fuller and Rep. Kevin McCarthy have recognized Hise for her many achievements, from academics to 4-H. She is one of the highest-ranking members of the Ridgerunners 4-H Club and a member of American Mensa. Mensa, founded in 1946, is the oldest and largest high-IQ society in the world.

Also, 4-H has been a way for the 14-year-old genius to have a social life with peers. Ascension through the ranks of 4-H is based on skill level, not age, like school. Hise has traveled and met many people traveling to shows and competing. She and her horse have scored high in many disciplines, and she has trained a dog she rescued from the local animal shelter and received points toward the AKC Championship rank.

Page 2 of 2 - She has been accepted to the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia. She has been accepted to go for four years, enough time to earn a master’s degree. Hise has finished her general education requirements at CCCC. She has not yet chosen a major.

She attended Pierce Elementary up until seventh grade and was given exemption to compulsory education from Sierra Sands. She then began attending Cerro Coso full time. She began taking classes at Cerro Coso at age 9; her first course was Russian.

“We are very proud of Sara and all of our graduates who have worked hard to reach this important milestone in their educational journey. The education they have received at Cerro Coso has given them a strong foundation for future success,” said Jill Board, president of Cerro Coso. “Graduation is an exciting time for us all. We look forward to celebrating student accomplishments with family and friends at our commencement exercises every year.”

The Cerro Coso commencement ceremony will be 6 p.m. Friday in the Gymnasium of the Raymond A. McCue Athletic Complex located on the west side of College Heights Boulevard in Ridgecrest. Hise will be one of 290 peers receiving degrees or certificates.

Hise is seeking financial assistance for her educational endeavors. Half of her ride to Mary Baldwin is being paid for, but she needs a little more to get her through.

For now donations can be made to Mary Baldwin College, 318 Prospect St., Staunton, VA 24401, with Sara Hise in the memo line.